Liam Williams: Edinburgh Fringe 2015 interview

Liam Williams has had two remarkably successful Edinburgh Fringe successes on the trot, picking up a Best Newcomer nomination in 2013 and a Best Show nomination in 2014. The reason? Both his shows have been brilliant, sharp critiques of modern middle-class existence that make apathy poetic and vitriol hilarious. This show is looking just as good.

Hi Liam, how are you?

Very well, thank you.

Your debut in 2013 was in a paid venue before you switched to the free fringe last year, how do you compare the experience of a free show to a paid one?

The reason for switching was primarily that there were lots of free rooms similar to the one I did in my first year (The Tron, great room to be fair) so it felt sensible to offer it for free as I wasn’t likely to make money doing paid anyway. Free is more chaotic – more cramped, hotter, bigger queues. But it’s good fun. I slightly resent paying to see stand-up now.

In the last two years you have you have started to discuss politics a lot more in your shows, how deliberate was that?

Deliberate in that I have to I write the stuff. But definitely guided by the fact that reviews and friends seemed interested to see the more political strains in the first show developed. Plus with all the bloody bullshit going on it’s getting harder to ignore.

How did the material for the show come around this year, did you have a specific ideas in mind for what you wanted to discuss?

It felt like a continuation of the stuff I was talking about last year. I’ve been trying to get stuck into political protests and stuff so that’s a big theme.

At one of our gigs last year you did some material about your downstairs neighbors expensive cat which doesn’t seem to have made it into the show this year, How come? I loved the cat bit.

I’m afraid other people generally didn’t love the cat bit.

What would you suggest really makes a good Bonfire night? I suggest Pumpkin Soup.

That’s a nice idea. But is that more of a Halloween thing? My friend Jonno (Sheeps), when we were super-skit a few years ago, and I had an idea to sell toffee pears at fireworks displays. So look out for us at London parks this Nov 5.

How bored are you with people pretending to mistake you for your international rugby player namesake? Do you think you could use this to your advantage and write a rugby based show?

Not that bored. There’s also a boxer with that name so I have an idea for a show called ‘The Liam Williams, Liam Williams & Liam Williams show’ in which we try each other’s jobs for a bit.